Electronic media is inferior to print media due to the fact that electronic media can be bias, selective, and evasive for the purpose of entertainment. Electronic media serves as a form of entertainment with a main goal of serving their ratings rather than serving the people. It would seem that Postman would agree with this theory since he describes electronic media as a form of entertainment rather than a reliable source of information and facts in his book Amusing Ourselves to Death.
Let’s start by taking a look at the bias side of electronic media. Take for instance the difference between Fox News and CBS. Both are news stations, both are intended to bring us the news, yet the way in which each station presents its stories to their viewers could not be more different. Few would argue the fact that Fox news appeals to the conservative audience while a station such as CBS would tend to be more liberal. This creates bias. To illustrate my point, let us take a look at how these 2 news stations covered the very same story in completely different ways.
Fox News, with their conservative bias, continuously eluded, during the coverage of the Chandra Levy case, that Gary Condit played some role in Chandra’s disappearance. In many numerous televised announcements and news articles released since the day that Chandra was declared missing, Fox News repeatedly kept referring to Condit for more information (Fox News’ Kelly O. Beaucar, foxnews.com 5/23/01).
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An area of popular research throughout the last two decades is the study of mainstream media and it’s depiction of individuals that follow the Islamic faith. It is evident that Muslims encounter countless stereotypes through the lens of Western media consumers. This essay will highlight events occurring after the September 11, 2001 World Trade Centre attacks and ultimately display the Islamophobia ...
And also Fox had turned to the public to get their interaction with the media in numerous polls such as: Most Believe Condit Hasn’t Come Clean. Condit Constituents Split Their Judgment. Condit’s Acting Guilty (Dana Blanton, Fox News 7/07/01).
CBS, on the other hand, did not focus on the possibility of Condit’s role in Chandra’s disappearance. In fact, Dan Rather did not extensively cover the Chandra case until after 63 days since she first went missing. This is what the report stated:
RATHER:There is news tonight worthy of national note in the case of missing person 24-year-old intern Chandra Levy. The young woman disappeared in Washington more than 11 weeks ago and became one of tens of thousands of missing personas across the country. CBS News correspondent Jim Stewart reports on both the status and nature of this widely publicized investigation have changed.
STEWART: Washington’s summer-long search for a missing former intern has finally reached a critical junction. Earlier this week, the FBI officially transferred the Chandra Levy investigation to its Cold Case unit, which historically has handled only the toughest of cases, which have few clues. [Rest of story]
RATHER: You may want to keep in mind the case remains officially a “missing person” case. No crime has been established, no one has been accused by lawmen—of anything, much less formally charged. No one’s been charged with breaking any laws. (Dan Rather and Jim Stewart, CBS Evening News, 7/18/01)
While the contrasts between the two are obviously different where one depicts that Condit is the cause of the problem, the other clearly states just the facts.
My second point is that Electronic Media tends to become evasive while broadcasting. They tend to focus on points that were based on opinion rather than facts so that they may receive more ratings, in turn create more profit. I once again turn to the same story of Chandra Levy’s disappearance. Although CBS just states the facts, Fox News states opinions in their polls, news article headings, and their complete coverage of the story, while focusing on Mr. Condit (Fox News 7/15/01).
Fox News gained high ratings for the Chandra Levy story, only because they fed off of the icon, Gary Condit. Bringing a celebrity into anything makes it more interesting because he or she is more widely known. Now when you have titles such as “Condit’s Acting Guilty” (Dana Blanton, Fox News 7/07/01), you will have more people interested in knowing what Condit is Acting Guilty towards. This is a way of evasiveness to create a more interesting and entertaining show. If this case were about Chandra Levy, and some one named Joe Smoe, that no one had heard of, the news media would not have fed off of it as much. This is the point that Dan Rather was trying to make in his news article (Dan Rather and Jim Stewart, CBS Evening News, 7/18/01).
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In a tiny courtroom in the county of Dayton Tennessee, the jury settled into their seats, ready to return the verdict in the most controversial case of the 1920's, the scopes "monkey" trial. Up to this point, the trial itself had been a media spectacle; the lawyers, the witnesses, even the defendant had become media icons in the commercialism of the twenties. The trial itself was set up to be a ...
The third topic I would like to discuss is that the medium on television is selective. The only interest in the news and media is to bring forth entertaining, eye-catching, and money making news. When was the last time they showed Billy Joe from No Where Ville, Tennessee on television because he ate the most hotdogs in an hour than anyone else, and won a new bicycle? Not any time recently, because not many people are interested in hearing about it, they would rather hear of local shootings, bank robberies, and plane wrecks. Only, because it is entertaining. Also how commercials are put into and dividing our news. We receive bits and pieces of the news which has become our normal, however, on the other hand we have the abnormal which would be a movie we would see in the theatre, where we have no commercial breaks, and we get the beginning, middle and the end to each and every story. Unlike news, however which we receive only enough to get our attentions quickly enough before a Coca-Cola ® commercial comes on with their nice little jingle trying to make you thirsty and buy their product. Why is it that going to a movie is abnormal when there are no interruptions and we get a beginning, middle and an end, as opposed to the news on TV, where we have interruptions almost every five minutes? It is because we have adopted the idea that this is how it is supposed to be. During the Condit trial just about all news stations were focusing their cameras on Gary Condit and the Levy Family, until September 11, 2001 when two planes struck the World Trade Center. Once this had happened all eyes were focused on the chaos of the destruction that was created while Condit and the Levy family had a break from the Media.
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The politicians not without good reason consider the mass media to be the basic instrument in dissemination of ideology. Therefore, seemingly, the media so often has been found themselves in the center of heated public debates and not rarely were being charged with provoking social, political and war conflicts. War propaganda is perhaps as old as war itself, though in recent years means for its ...
Taking these three points that I have discussed thus far, it is no wonder why I feel that print media is a far better source of obtaining accurate information. It is difficult to find glitter and flash on paper, therefore the meat must come from the facts. Unlike electronic media, with all their flash and glitter, whose focus is to find something that, the public would enjoy watching so that they can achieve their goals of ratings and profit. Because “…There’s No Business, But Show Business” (Postman, 98)
Works Cited
Postman, Neil. Amusing Ourselves to Death. New York. Penguin, 1985.
Rather, Dan. Gary Condit & The Press . 2001. 3 Sept. 2003.
Homicide Investigation – Chandra Ann Levy . May 2001. 3 Sept. 2003
